Your top 5 mods for a daily driver

[NomisR]

Yes.  I'm moving in two days, but it's still a 44 mile round trip. 

But when I considered the RX-8, it was 2008. 

That's not bad.. that's about 30 min each way

[Onslaught]

That's not bad.. that's about 30 min each way

That depends on traffic in his area. I drive 34 miles a day round trip on an Interstate and it takes me a total 90-120 minutes a day to go and come back from work.

[NomisR]

That depends on traffic in his area. I drive 34 miles a day round trip on an Interstate and it takes me a total 90-120 minutes a day to go and come back from work.

Yeah, my old commute was 20 miles, and it usually takes an hour or more.  My current commute is 6 miles, and it takes half an hour because it's all city driving.. I take partially freeway to avoid the lights.  I wish our government would understand how to sync the lights.. off topic..

So when's the 16x coming out?

[Onslaught]

So when's the 16x coming out?

I saw that Mazda said that it's been on the back burner because of the economic fuck up. They've been putting all their work into the SKY motors and stuff like that. As they should really.
However, a report about a month or two ago said that MPG has been increased a good amount in the 16X. Now I don't know if that will be true or not. And to be honest I really don't give a shit. I can buy gas obviously.

The problem is it's not passing the current goals for emissions yet. But they say they're still working on that. It looks like with 2011 being the last year of the RX-8, we'll have 2-3 years before
a new car will come out at best I think. Or they could have the car all but ready and just waiting for the motor for all I know.

[Byteme]

That depends on traffic in his area. I drive 34 miles a day round trip on an Interstate and it takes me a total 90-120 minutes a day to go and come back from work.

Yikes.   I drive 27 miles each way and it takes about 35-40 minutes on average. 

[Onslaught]

Yikes.   I drive 27 miles each way and it takes about 35-40 minutes on average. 

That's NC for you. Make an outerbelt  only 4 lanes in the most used parts. The rest of it is 6-8 lanes.

[NomisR]

I saw that Mazda said that it's been on the back burner because of the economic fuck up. They've been putting all their work into the SKY motors and stuff like that. As they should really.
However, a report about a month or two ago said that MPG has been increased a good amount in the 16X. Now I don't know if that will be true or not. And to be honest I really don't give a shit. I can buy gas obviously.

The problem is it's not passing the current goals for emissions yet. But they say they're still working on that. It looks like with 2011 being the last year of the RX-8, we'll have 2-3 years before
a new car will come out at best I think. Or they could have the car all but ready and just waiting for the motor for all I know.

Last I read, the fuel economy, power and emissions was not as good as they would like and they're looking to revamp that.

Oh, have you read about the Audi A1 based hybrid rotary?  It's similar to the Volt in concept, but instead of a piston engine, it has a single rotary engine to help maintain constant charge at low speeds. 

It's more for city driving though

[Onslaught]

Last I read, the fuel economy, power and emissions was not as good as they would like and they're looking to revamp that.

Oh, have you read about the Audi A1 based hybrid rotary?  It's similar to the Volt in concept, but instead of a piston engine, it has a single rotary engine to help maintain constant charge at low speeds. 

It's more for city driving though

http://rotarynews.com/node/view/1126

Like all things, until I can go buy one I won't hold my breath.

[Rupert]

Yes.  I'm moving in two days, but it's still a 44 mile round trip.  

But when I considered the RX-8, it was 2008.  

Well, that's good. Why not, like, five miles from work?

And you can get a second car, yes?

[S204STi]

Speaking of lighting upgrades, I have more 65watt H7 Rallyes on order since one burned out finally after a couple of years, as well as some 85watt selective-yellow H3s for my fogs, and an upgraded relay/wiring harness assembly so I don't nuke my factory wiring with them...

[Rupert]

Nice. I'm still waiting on 90/100W H4 bulbs and relays for the Porsche, and then I have to fix the fogs, order a new lens (cracked), and then paint them. I'm using the Dan Stern method of Duplicolor Metalcast Yellow-- it's supposed to very closely replicate the classic yellow lens color.

I got mounts ready for the Hella 500s on the Explorer (pain. in. the. ass.), and will hopefully get those installed this weekend. I might replace the fogs, too, since the stockers suck. Probably wait for $ > dust to do that.

[thewizard16]

I don't have any experience with HID kits, but the knowledgeable-person hearsay I, uh, hear, is that they mostly just create glare for the other driver, which is obviously a bad idea. The amount of light is nice, but the aiming is really the most important part.

Not all the cars I've put them in are projectors and weren't originally designed for HID, but I make sure they're aimed properly and always test them a bit to see if they're glaring too badly. I also stick to a 5000-6000K temperature bulb for a little bit of that "trendy" look while retaining near maximum brightness. The people putting in those 8,000, 10,000, or even 12,000K bulbs piss me off. Headlights should not be purple, nor do you gain much light output from regular old fashioned halogens when you do that.

I think Silverstars are mostly a waste of money... I had them before the HID conversion and I didn't see what made them worth the extra money. Regardless, I have greater visibility and a whiter light with the HIDs than I did with halogens and no one seems to think they're blinding, so I stand by the decision. I was doing a lot of night driving a while back and with as many deer as there are and as curvy as the roads are, I feel the HID conversion was a very good investment.

[sportyaccordy]

Couple of things on lighting

200W???? Damn

And here's what a good low beam pattern looks like




On my next car... retro or bust

Though a decent pattern is doable w/a decent H4 HID kit

[Rupert]

That looks like a lot of light for oncoming drivers. Also, photos of lighting are basically useless.

[Onslaught]

I can't stand how the left side is lower then the right. My RX-8 is like that too. I understand it's to not blind people driving at you in other cars. But I still don't like it.

[Cookie Monster]

I can't stand how the left side is lower then the right. My RX-8 is like that too. I understand it's to not blind people driving at you in other cars. But I still don't like it.

Yeah, that's how the Miata is and I don't like it.

[sportyaccordy]

That looks like a lot of light for oncoming drivers. Also, photos of lighting are basically useless.

Naw, it looks good. The cutoff line is angled down; drivers see minimal glare. And you can tell a lot about the light pattern based on its shape. The intensity is centered where you need it- at the center, which will be the beam in the distance on the road. It's a good low beam pattern.

I can't stand how the left side is lower then the right. My RX-8 is like that too. I understand it's to not blind people driving at you in other cars. But I still don't like it.

I think it gives the beam character. Kind of pointless though.  The whole beam is pointing down, so if it were even you could get more light and still not blind oncoming drivers.

[Onslaught]

One other thing I don't like about these lights is I know a road that has a large hill on it. And at the bottom of the hill it has a hard left turn that immediately starts going up another hill. When you get to the bottom and start the turn you can't see anything until the car is going up the hill again. You have a perfect line of light and then nothing above that. So I'm driving blind sometimes.

[Rupert]

Naw, it looks good. The cutoff line is angled down; drivers see minimal glare. And you can tell a lot about the light pattern based on its shape. The intensity is centered where you need it- at the center, which will be the beam in the distance on the road. It's a good low beam pattern.
I think it gives the beam character. Kind of pointless though.  The whole beam is pointing down, so if it were even you could get more light and still not blind oncoming drivers.

The way to grade your lights is with an isocandela plot.

[ChrisV]

As to the original question, whatever the particular car needs to make it exactly how I want it. Sometimes wheels and tires are #1, sometimes a stereo upgrade is #1. Sometimes I only want minor visual cues changed, and other times, it needs more power or more responsive handling to be enjoyable. My BMW daily driver got wheels & tires, lowering, exhaust and visual mods.

[sportyaccordy]

One other thing I don't like about these lights is I know a road that has a large hill on it. And at the bottom of the hill it has a hard left turn that immediately starts going up another hill. When you get to the bottom and start the turn you can't see anything until the car is going up the hill again. You have a perfect line of light and then nothing above that. So I'm driving blind sometimes.

In situations like that, high beams are warranted. If I'm out in the forest somewhere, high beams are pretty much a given.

[S204STi]

Heh, when I installed the new bulbs I also repaired some wiring that got a bit wonky over the last 4 years. Suddenly they are way brighter... I love it.

[the Teuton]

To PlastiCar?

1) Head unit with aux jack and MP3 player

2) Toggle switch for radiator fan

3) Upgraded rotors and pads

4)

5) ...

[Raza]

To PlastiCar?

1) Head unit with aux jack and MP3 player

2) Toggle switch for radiator fan

3) Upgraded rotors and pads

4)

5) ...

For Plasticar:

[S204STi]

Lol

[Cookie Monster]

[CJ]

That's a Volvo key.